This invention relates to a composite image printing method and apparatus for making a print of a composite image used as a postcard or the like.
For making a print with a composite image of a scene and letters, it is known to use a CRT image printing apparatus in which the scene and letters are composed with the aid of a computer and displayed on the screen of a CRT display device as a composite image to be printed on a photographic paper. For this image composition, the scene is input in the apparatus as video signals, for example, by a TV camera, and letters are provided as images on the CRT screen by operating a keyboard.
In the above-described CRT image printing apparatus, a composite image is produced electrically to be displayed on the CRT screen. Such image composition is attended with the problem that an image which is displayed on the CRT screen by being picked up by a TV camera or the like from a photographic original such as a negative film, positive film, a print and so on is worsened as to gradation, color tone, resolution, etc.
In the photographic field, there have been various kinds of printing apparatus for making a print from an image recorded on a film. Such conventional printing apparatus can be used to make a print of a composite image. In this case, however, it is necessary to photograph previously a composite image to be printed, resulting in a time-consuming and troublesome operation. Composing letters, a computer graphic image and/or the like with a photographed image is effected easier by electrical display on a CRT display device than by photography. In particular, it is well known in computer graphics that a print of good quality can be better made by exposing a photographic paper directly to a composite image displayed on the screen of the CRT display device than from a photographed composite image on a film.
Another problem is the prior confirmation of a composite image to be printed. When composing images, it is necessary to confirm a composite image as to its locational arrangement and image quality prior to printing. This prior confirmation is important in order to avoid misprinting. If in fact there is an undesirable composite image, the images to be composited should be changed in size, location and the like.
There is a further problem, in particular, in a postcard with a sender's name and address printed upon it. Although the letters showing the sender's name and address are usually displayed on the CRT screen for printing, no sharp image of the letters is provided because these letters are usually small.